For more current information on the Transit Initiative in Bathurst read the
BSD May 2006
Newsletter! New!

Below you will find some of the information from the test project phase.

Reminder:
Do the Earth a favor...take the bus!

Public Transit...where ever life takes
you! CUTA

The Urban
Transit Test Project Update and Fall News!

Winter Transit Schedules
are now available. Several changes have been made to allow transit to increase
both our service frequency, efficiency and to service Call Centers and other
areas. The Winter Schedule comes into effect September 6. All riders should
obtain the winter schedule and familiarize themselves with the times and changes
in preparation for the September 6 launch.

Saturday Service will begin
to be tested starting on September 10. The success of Saturday Service will be
monitored during this testing period. It is hoped that we will be able to
continue Saturday service until at least Christmas and perhaps longer but the
length of time will depend upon the number of paying riders each Saturday.
The Saturday Bus Schedule is printed on
the back of the Winter Schedule.

Back to School Special!Student Discounts of 15% off of the
purchase price of Monthly Passes, are now available to all students of Middle
Schools, High Schools and College Campus's provided that the student can show a
valid Student ID Card or other proof of school registration in the City. There
is no age limit...if you are enrolled in one of our local institutions, are
pursuing further education and higher learning...you qualify!

The Gift of Public Transit:Planning to give a gift to
someone who is having a Birthday? or Special occasion?

Why not give the gift of
public transit? Either a monthly pass or a sheet of 10 rides.

Transit Passes are
available for purchase at either the KC Irving Civic Center, City hall or Jean
Coutu Pharmacy.

Name the Bus and Logo Contest!
The Winner of the name the Bus Contest is Andrew Bullen with the name selected
by the Transit Project Steering Committee of : BAY TRANSIT/ TRANSIT de la BAIE!

The Winner of the Logo
Contest is Louise Theriault.

There were a total of 15
names and 5 logo's submitted in total! The two winners will each be provided
with Free Transit passes from September until February! Congratulations! Thank
you to all who submitted entries!

Reminder: Do the Earth a
favor...take the bus!

Transit Passescan now be purchased at Jean Coutu on St.
Peter Ave. !

Type of System:

The system is being designed to offer 30 minute service during the "peek
commute" periods of 7am- 9am and again from 4pm to 6 pm with one reduced service
from 9am- 4 pm and again from 6-7pm. In most cases, riders must "walk out"
from
their streets to "catch the bus". The routes are being designed
to pass through the highest population density areas. This is necessary in order
to obtain enough riders to financially support the main line. The "walk out
buffers" are between 200 and 400 meters to a bus stop depending on where your
living residence is located.

As you can see from the buffers outlined on the
originalProposed
Bus Route, 80% of the City can be covered with
the proposed routes and riders walking out the 200-400 meter buffer to the
nearest bus stop. We acknowledge that there are areas and streets not serviced
during the test project. If the test project is a success and rider demand is
strong, and the service is able to be established as a full service after March
31, 2006, then hopefully, as we move into Year 2, we will also be able to expand
our coverage within the City. If ridership is low during the test project, then
service will be discontinued as of March 31, 2006.

Paratransit Service and Wheelchair Accessibility

Unfortunately, wheelchair access (Paratransit) on these buses is not
available during the test project. Leasing the low floor style buses that allow
wheelchair access was beyond the financial means of the test project. Also,
having functioning wheel chair lifts on the buses would have requires a major
financial investment of capital costs, additional maintenance expertise and
costs and training which the test project is also not able to do at this time.
However, we are in contact with the Disabled in the Community and have offered
to assist the current Paratransit Service in the City, operated by the Venture
Van and Rotary, with developing a Long Term Financial Sustainability Program, to
help the service to continue to be available and suitable to the needs of its
riders. If the test project is a success, we will be in a better position to
provide additional assistance to this important service, if and when the transit
service moves into Year 2.

The Urban Transit Test Project Designated Bus Stops with Shelter

The Bathurst
Transit Test Project has many Community Partner's. "This overwhelming positive
support and assistance from our Community with the test project is greatly
appreciated"!

First, we
would like to acknowledge our funding partners:

1. The National Homelessness Initiative

2. Moving on Sustainable Transportation

3. Federation of Canadian Municipalities

4. City of Bathurst-Rider Fees from Year I

Cooperation
between citizens, businesses, organizations and City Hall is vital when
attempting to obtain funding for and to conduct a project of this size and is
also needed when attempting to set up a public transit system.

Capital
costs can be far too costly and complicated to include in these types of
community projects. In Bathurst, the community has really come through with
support.

Aliant
Mobility is providing communications devices to allow for a continuous live link
between drivers, the Transit Manager and the Maintenance Manager.

Pre-fabricated, commercial bus shelters for example, can cost upwards of $5000
each installed. To attempt to keep cost down during the test project, BSD turned
to its community businesses and major employers to assist with sheltered bus
stops. Instead of building or purchasing pre-fabricated bus stops, the project
is using what are called: "Naturally Occurring Bus Stops".

Since the
entrances near the Main doors of the "top requested destinations and buildings"
where riders indicated they wanted to go in their survey were buildings that
already had either an outdoor overhang which provides natural shelter from the
wind and rain for waiting transit riders, or have an indoor lobby/waiting area,
and as well, most already have benches near these entrances, it made sense to
designate these entrances as "naturally occurring bus stops". 22 businesses and
building owners along the transit route have graciously agreed to be designated
as "official" bus stops which have shelter. The buildings have agreed to allow
the transit test project to hang the Bus route map and a small sign which says
"bus" on it near these pick up and drop off areas of each building.

"The support
and positive attitude of these businesses and building owners for the transit
initiative is very admirable and shows what can be accomplished when everyone
works cooperatively for the good of the people" says Kelley

We wish to
acknowledge these enterprises and thank them for their support. They are:

The Urban Transit Test Project
Designated Bus Stops with Shelter

The Industrial Park

Chicken King and Chinese Palace (Miriamichi
Ave)

Maurice's Gas Bar

Bayview Village (King Ave)

City Hall (St. George Street; also
Transit Pass Vendor Location)

Royal Bank TD Canada Trust (Cunard
Street and Main Street entrances)

City VIC Center (Late Spring/Summer/
Fall Schedule only)

NBCC University Ave Campus

Villa Chaleur

KC Irving Civic Center (also Transit Pass Vendor location)

Wal Mart (Ste. Anne Street)

Bathurst Youth Center (St. Anne
Street)

Kents (St. Anne Street)

Jacques Convenience (Evangeline
Drive)

Superstore/ Super Mall (St. Peter's
Ave)

Sobeys (St. Peter's Ave)

Place Bathurst Mall (St. Peter's Ave)

Chaleur Regional Hospital (Sunset
Drive)

In addition
to the 22 designated buildings which are formal bus stops, in between each of
these buildings, along the transit routes, additional "unsheltered" bus stops
will be designated by the posting of Bus Stop signs on posts. Riders can wait to
ride the bus at these additional locations and also can signal for the bus to
stop to drop them off at these locations by pulling the signal bell rope on the
bus to inform the driver that you wish to get off at the next bus stop sign.
These locations have no benches for seating to wait for the bus and are
unsheltered.

Once the service commences with riders will be able to purchase their passes or
punch passes from three locations in the City:

a)City Hall; or

b)Box office at the K.C. Irving Regional Center.

c) or at Jean Coutu
Pharmacy on St. Peter Ave.

During the first month of transit service during the Year I project, transit
will be free of charge. All citizens wishing to use public transit during that
month will be able to obtain a complimentary Monthly transit pass from either
the bus drivers as they get on the bus for the first time, at City Hall or at
the KC Irving Civic Center. All riders must show their pass to the driver in
order to ride the bus.

At
the end of the Free Month of public transit, riders who wish to continue to use
the service must purchase either a Monthly pass for the coming month, purchase a
punch pass or pay the cash fare to the coin box on the bus. If riding with a
monthly pass, passes must be shown at all times when getting on the bus.
Children under 12 may ride at no charge but each child must be accompanied by a
paying adult at all times.

The service will travel along two 20 km round trip routes
throughout the City. The rider fares will be $3.00 cash one way, paid to the
coin box on the bus or; you can purchase a monthly transit pass good for an
unlimited number of rides per month for $100 valid for a 30 day period or;
riders can purchase a book of 10 individual rides for $27. Yearly passes will
be made available starting in Year II and will be sold at a discount of $1100
for one year saving the purchaser one months transit fare as a discount.

Pollution Control Policy

BSD has written a Pollution
Control Policy for Public Transit. It's focus is to ensure that the transit
service is as environmentally friendly as possible. The three transit buses
being used during the test project operate using diesel fuel. To reduce
emissions, ultra low sulfur fuel is being used.

Additional Project Activities:

BSD will be conducting the
following Project activities in additional to Managing the Transit Service and
Project.

"Regional Fleet
Assessment"

During the project, Bathurst Sustainable Development will
conduct a first level inquiry and preliminary assessment of the potential to
organize and coordinate the current community size buses which are owned and
operated by various surrounding communities, organizations, Villages and Towns
outside of the limits of the City of Bathurst into a "Regional Fleet". If
successfully implemented, we believe this will be a very innovative service that
if replicated could be of great benefit to other areas. Currently we do not know
how many of these smaller "community" buses exist. The Regional Fleet would
connect citizens from those communities to the City transit service and vice
versa. Bathurst Sustainable Development will conduct consultations, as they did
during the Phase 1 of the Feasibility Study, and inquiries with communities
within a 30 minute drive of the City of Bathurst to identify their current
transportation means, to identify if these communities currently have community
buses or not, and if the communities are interested in the Regional Fleet idea.
We will obtain detailed information on the type of buses, costs to operate
currently, number and frequency of users etc... If the communities have buses
available or are willing to purchase or lease a bus, and if they express
interest in pursuing the Regional Fleet idea further, Bathurst Sustainable
Development will assist them to apply for funding to conduct a Feasibility Study
to identify if it is financially sustainable to coordinate the current community
buses into a Regional Fleet that connects with the City of Bathurst. A separate
Regional Fleet report will be published at the end of this project.

The Companion Program:
Bathurst
Sustainable Development will simultaneously conduct a Companion Program during
the transit test project. We believe that this is a very innovative idea for
encouraging transit ridership and for encouraging a city that has never has a
public transit service to make the transition to using one. It is designed to
provide assistance to citizens making the transition and change in life styles
from "100% personal automobile dependency" or "no automobile" to a lifestyle
that uses a daily affordable public transit bus service. There are many
citizens who will need information, need the skills and encouragement to build
the confidence and their capacity to independently take the bus. For still
others, visual, hearing and literacy impairments may require that they have a
companion to assist them. Citizens will need to learn how the system works, try
it out, learn how to use the online information web site or the voice activated
telephone service. For some, they may need to build their confidence in taking
the bus and may benefit from being partnered with a "companion". This companion
could be in the form of one citizen or it could be a group, organization,
business or industry that is willing to assist as a companion supporter.
Citizens going on a companion tour will be provided with a Free Transit Pass for
the day, a member of the Companion Program would then accompany the group on
their group ride on the bus. This companion assisted transit trip would last
approximately one- two hours, which would allow ample time for the group to be
able to travel the entire route, learn how to transfer onto the Express Way
route, learn how to read the schedules, how to use the "pull line" for stopping
the bus nearer to where they are getting off, see where the bus stops are, feel
how it feels to be on the bus when it is moving, and develop confidence in
personal security while on the bus. The goal of the companion program is to
assist citizens in becoming comfortable and confident with the bus system and
moves everyone to independence in their personal mobility. On the first outing,
a member of BSD will accompany the group on the tour. Each group or organization
who register for a companion tour, will be asked to designate a member who will
be the "Transit Companion" for that group. During the transit test project,
Transit Companion from that group will be encouraged to take the lead during any
future the outings. The future outings would be for members of the group who
have not had a personal tour, who are new to the City or the area or who are new
to using public transit. In this way, we are building a support network of
volunteer companions throughout the City. The long-term goal is to build a
volunteer list of citizens and groups who will remain available over the coming
years to assist citizens wishing to begin to use the City transit service and
who would benefit from a companion tour. The Companion program can also be
expanded in the future to be available for new citizens moving to the City. The
concept of multi-modal transportation will be introduced to citizens during the
tours. A hand out showing the various modes of alternative transportation to the
personal automobile will be provided. In this way, citizens can begin to
challenge themselves to link the transit bus service with other modes of
transportation that are both healthy, good for the environment and active. A
Feedback form will be developed and given to each member of the tour group to
receive their written comments and to assess their comfort level, understanding
of the new service, benefits, and understanding of the concept and likelihood of
multi-modal transportation. The City will provide the Complimentary Transit
Passes for the companion program.

Name the
Bus and Logo Contest:

BSD will
conduct a Name the Bus and Logo Contest during the first month of Year I.
Incentives for the winning entries will be awarded. The Transit Steering
Committee will select the winning entries.

Transit
Pass Employer Deduction Program

BSD will
introduce to 25 employers the Transit Pass Employer Deduction Program, in which
employers offer to their employees the option of purchasing their transit passes
by having a portion deducted from each of their pay checks each month.

"How to"
Guide

The "How
To" Guide that BSD will write for Transport Canada will be a unique and usable
tool for other small urban centers and will document both the history of our
feasibility study experience, the experiences during the test project, plans for
the future and include some tips for how Municipalities and NGO groups can build
bonds and working relationships. It will provide practical, concrete
suggestions. It will also provide current resource links for other small Cities
wishing to access information, funding, resources, and technical assistance so
that they may also begin to implement a transit service. Input will be obtained
from CUTA, Transport Canada, FCM and others involved in public transit.

Bathurst
Sustainable Development believes that we have a story to tell about our little
City, the changes that we have observed; a 21st century story to tell that may
be of interest and assistance to other communities. It is the story of how City
Hall and the NGO Environmental organization made the bridge in understanding and
decided not to conduct business as usual. They decided each had their own
special gifts and services to provide to one another in order to help the
community at large work cooperatively towards common goals. It is all about how
the entire City got involved and benefited from this wonderful partnership in
implementing public transit in our City.

Little
cities and smaller Municipalities have special needs in financing, designing and
implementing public transit. The rising cost of operating personal automobiles
coupled with the increase in air pollutants and the production of greenhouse
gases from the burning of fossil fuels from billions of personal automobiles
operating around the world is moving the Earth's people in all populated areas,
including the small urban centers, to cleaner, greener and more affordable forms
of transportation such as public transit.

Future Plans: "The Sheltering
Project"

If the transit services moves into year 2,
we hope to encourage additional
community partners to assist with a "sheltering program". If community
associations, industries, major employers, Churches, neighbors in sub-divisions
wanted to join together to fund raise or find contributing partners to help them
cover the cost of installing a pre-fabricated winter shelter at the nearest bus
stop sign in their neighborhood, to register and designate additional buildings
as bus stops, or even to provide benches and allow them to be placed on their
lawn near the bus stop sign I am sure riders would greatly appreciate it.

The Transit
project can direct you to a distributor who sells pre-fabricated commercial bus
stops with benches that can be ordered. This will help to ensure that there is
uniformity and that bus stop structures are built and installed to industry
standards for public safety as well as to conform with City by-laws. Each
pre-fabricated bus stop, costs approximately $5,000 installed. While during the
test project, it maybe possible to do without these additional shelters, if the
service continues after the project, shelters in these areas will be needed.

"After
visiting and using many transit systems in other Cities over the past few
winters, on cold windy days, you really come to appreciate the value to transit
riders of shelter from the wind and the availability of a bench for those in
need" says Kelley."